Mythical-donut

WOW. So that's where the dragons are going. LITERALLY INTO THE CHALICE. And Zeno’s medallion is the lid to the Chalice?! They are like genies in a bottle now or like pokemon in pokeballs. And Zeno is capturing them. ZENOOOOOOO!!!

He came back to get Kija as well and now he's completed his first part of his mission. Woah.

I want to state the obvious that Soo-won's goons are complete idiots for thinking they could take on Hak and a literal dragon. With the possibility of multiple dragons no less.

Once I saw Kija enter the battle I knew it was his turn to go dragon. He has to follow the pattern. And him getting severely injured confirmed this. So before I dissect this I want to express my love for the Kija moment. He confirmed Jaeha and Shinah did not die. They did not lose their powers either and are still of this world. Kija also accepts that it is not a terrible thing to go dragon. As long as he can protect Yona.

Now back to WTF Zeno. This adds on to my previous post on speculations of Zeno. He confirmed took advantage of the taking of the Chalice by Chagol. And now has it himself. He is using it to put the dragons in it. Why? We can't say for sure, but I still remain to the belief that it is not for nefarious reasons. His means to an end may be questionable, but I believe that he means to ultimately help Yona and the dragons. Perhaps end the cycle? Start the prophecy for Yona to act? Perhaps putting them in the Chalice stops their lifespans from shortening further. It is interesting that he has to wait for them to become dragons to do it. Only in their dragon form can they enter the Chalice.

I've also speculated on the Chalice itself. It is the dragon warriors' link to the dragon powers of the Dragon gods between realms. We still don't know the exact mechanics of how it works. Putting them in the Chalice sends them where though? within a pocket dimension? Nearer to the gods? We still don't know what it all means for them to turn into dragons.

Let’s talk about Zeno.

Wow things sure are escalating quick. Um...where did that guard captain with the ponytail come from? Was he always there and I wasn't paying attention? Or maybe he was just a background character that suddenly made center stage when the plot demanded. This guy is the knew discord-maker I would say. Now that Kyesook and Judo have softened to Yona and the dragons.

Could this lead to civil war? Maybe. Maybe not. If they continue to attack the dragons this is going to bad news for everyone. These dragons are potentially even more dangerous in this unstable state than what we've seen so far. Kusanagi mentioned in a twitter post on something like this chapter being the start of the main point of the story. If this is where the action is headed. I'm all for it!

That being said. Zeno. You are totes suspicious. Every single one and their mother is not trusting you right now. What is that blood on your chest? It wasn't there before when Shinah saw him. The Shinah disappeared now suddenly he has a mark. HMMMM. He is totally playing ignorant about the missing dragons and the chalice (which he was holding in the dream). I have more to say about this later.

This chapter was gutting.

I knew Shinah would disappear in the end following suit with Jaeha but for a second I had almost a bit of hope he wouldn't when he temporarily united with Yona and co. Dang....that was depressing. The Yun and Shinah interaction was so bittersweet. It's the classic trope where the dangerous beast is declared to be put down while their dear companion pleas for them not to. I've seen this trope a lot and it still brings a tear to my eye.

I feel so bad for Shinah. In the end he gains some measure of control after seeing Yun but is still mostly confused about his whole situation. Seeing Yun's tears of impotence and the sad lonely departure of an injured Shinah dragon into the isolated lands was a very poignant scene.

Shinah the lost

This chapter has been a rush and quite brutal if you think of it. Here we have Kusanagi having the dragon doing the most harm and taking the most harm be Shinah. It's a very interesting choice the author gave. Shinah among the fanbase has always been considered the cinnamon roll of the bunch.

That is, the one with the most childlike innocence. He was an outcast for much of his life and grew up mostly in isolation. He therefore lacked a strong sense of identity. This combined with turning into a dragon creates the worst recipe. We know at this point the dragon warriors' minds are compromised once they turn to dragons. I sort of liken it to the classic werewolf trope. Where you transform and your instincts and thoughts become more animal-like.

We saw how hard it was for the seasoned Jaeha to maintain control. With Shinah, it's so extreme he doesn't even know he is a dragon. He even forgot his sense of identity and his name. He's a lost, very dangerous puppy. It makes me wonder how Zeno's dragon is going to be. Will he be the most in control due to his millennia of experience? I think maybe, but then again we did see him rampage along with the others. So I do not think he is 100% in control either, but we shall see.

It made it all the more tragic to see the brutality of this chapter happen with our innocent Shinah. Good writing on Kusanagi's part.

What do I think is going to happen to Shinah?

I still mostly think he will fall into pattern with Jaeha and disappear in a sad way. After he gains some control by seeing Yun (and possibly Yona and co if they make it in time) I think this because the four dragons usually always fall into the same boat. And this may be a requirement leading up to the prophecy with Zeno's cryptic words and such. I do not think their disappearance is permanent however. Alternatively he will be able to take full control and turn back human, as many hope for. It could create a nice refreshing turn of the dragons not falling into the same pattern.

TFW your head gets bitten off by a dragon.

Daaaaaannng this chapter was wild! Let me preface this by saying while I know stakes are high and maybe we should be worried for the lives of certain characters this chapter, I fully enjoyed the full on dragon rampage performed by our poor oblivious innocent Shinah. It was crazy seeing them all try to restrain the dragon then attack it. Aaaahhh but it also grips your heart to see Shinah so lost and crying when he sees Yun.

So secondly, while I think it's mildly amusing to see Kyesook's leg and freaking Soo-won's head get bitten off my a big angry blue dragon in the night, I do not think this is the end of Soo-won (also Soowon wtf were you thinking). So for those mourning him already, whelp. I'm just not. I'm not convinced he is dead just like I am not the least bit convinced Jae-ha is perma-gone.

Some other thoughts are that the dragons are entirely physical with flesh and blood who can be harmed.....until they are not. Like when they start to become insubstantial and disappear. So there is definitely some dragon magic/divine stuff going on with them. I do believe they transport to some kind of other dimension or some crazy stuff. The netherworld? Divine realm? I don't know. But I want to.

This chapter gave us insight on what's going on with Shinah in his dragon form. As expected he seems the least aware of what's happening out of all the dragons. This reflects his innocence and lack of experience compared to the other dragons. While tragic, it is rather cute. He wanders around confused, lost. Not knowing where he is, where everyone is, or what he is. Yes Judoh! He may be a big scary dragon with paralysis powers, but you must protect him!

This chapter seems like a ghibli film as I mentioned in a previous post. It's apparent the dragons only attack when threatened. They are not out hunting or anything. They are just lost trying to find their way back home: back to the Happy Hungry Bunch *cue found family squeel* This may change, but for now they are just out wandering.

What do I think is going to happen to Shinah? Well it could go two ways. Yun is there, and it looks like he will play a part in calming Shinah and bringing him to his senses. Will Yona and co arrive in time to play a part? But how do they play a part in stopping him from disappearing just like Jaeha? I'm thinking he may disappear too to fall in pattern with Jaeha and whatever Zeno is referring to....*cough*...prophecy.

Wow, I loved this chapter!! Akayona continues to be very engaging again for me. This chapter we have Shinah's internal thoughts. I love how Kusagi shows what it's like to be in the perspective of a dragon. We got a little of that with Jaeha too. We can see how they struggle to maintain their human way of thinking and memories. Their minds are more wild and animalistic. I do like how some of the characters in the camp recognized Shinah and tried to stop the others from attacking it. It seems the dragons only attack when they feel threatened.

The next big speculation is what's going on with dream!Zeno. He is being very vague and mysterious with Yona. She asks if Jaeha is really gone when he says it's the end of their lifespan. He only urges her to go to them and tells her "It has begun". That last part is what I'm wondering. What has begun exactly? I'm thinking it's the prophecy. And the dragon warriors turning into actual dragons is a big part of it. Whether it leads to the 'darkness' in the prophecy or the salvation to it I do not know.

What's more is Kija is seeing Zeno's phantom too, I'll have some thoughts on what this entails as well.

Will Yona be able to come to Shinah to 'not let him go' and keep him from disappearing as well? It's looking like it's Yun's turn to play a role too. More thoughts on this later.

For some reason I though another one of the dragons would show up at suwons camp

Talk about creepy! Wow Shinah. He does not look tame here at all. I have to wonder why he didn’t show up to Yona like Jaeha did. Could it be he is less in his right mind and more dragoney in mind than human at this point?

Everyone morning for Jaeha is so sad and real. He is really loved.

But all hope is not lost.

Wow what an amazing chapter. If anyone ever thought Akayona strayed off the path, this chapter brings it back (I would say it did several chapters ago). The happy hungry bunch are the main reason why I read the manga and the found family twists my heart. This chapter is filled with so much gripping emotion.

Here everyone is so shocked and torn up over Jaeha disappearing/possibly dying. You really feel it.

As I have said I do not think he is dead however. He teleported to the netherworld just as the dragons can apparently do. As it’s pointed out here:

And indeed Kija is struggling to keep his human form. The rest are worried he’s going to turn any minute. Like I said it’s only a matter of time.

So Yona finally knows the 3 dragons have a short lifespan. All I can say is about time. The Chalice is definitely key to helping them.

Anyone notice Ao this chapter? Looks like he’s decided he’s going to need two nuts to solve this particular problem. I can certainly understand that.

Thanks to this chapter, we have enough information to figure out what happened to the dragon warriors. It confirmed a lot of things.